Turnpike chief files lawsuit seeks to block demotion

BOSTON --Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman Matt Amorello, who oversees the beleaguered Big Dig highway project, filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to prevent the governor from ousting him from his $223,000-a-year post.

In the lawsuit, Amorello asks a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court to block Gov. Mitt Romney from demoting him and to prevent a hearing from taking place where the governor is supposed to act as judge and jury in seeking his removal.

Amorello has been under fire over the past several years as Romney has criticized his management of the Big Dig. In the two weeks since 12 tons of ceiling panels from a Big Dig tunnel collapsed, killing a 39-year-old Boston woman, Romney has renewed his calls for Amorello's ouster -- and said the accident shows that he's incapable of overseeing the $14.6 billion highway project.

Amorello's lawyers contend that the governor does not have the authority to demote him. The governor's move would strictly strip Amorello of his position as chairman and chief executive, but he could remain on the five-member board, a position that pays about $25,000 a year.

"The governor has invented a power he does not have," according to the 12-page lawsuit.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney spokesman, countered: "We are confident that we are acting within the law, and we will make our argument in court."

Amorello's spokeswoman, Mariellen Burns, said the governor's actions are "politically motivated."

"We encourage the governor to join us in calling for an end to this costly litigation and instead focus on working collaboratively with the Authority in the best interests of the Commonwealth's commuters, tollpayers and taxpayers," she said in an e-mail statement.

In a 2002 case related to a governor's authority to remove members of the Turnpike board, the Supreme Judicial Court said one must show "malfeasance, misfeasance, or willful neglect of duty" to remove board members.

Amorello's lawsuit contends the governor hasn't met that standard. "The governor alleges ... that Mr. Amorello has mismanaged the Big Dig in a variety of ways. But the governor does not allege, nor could he, that Mr. Amorello's alleged mismanagement rises to the level of 'malfeasance, misfeasance, or willful neglect of duty.'"

The continued wrangling over Amorello's job came on the same day Romney appointed former Fidelity Investments executive Judy Pagliuca to the board, days after learning he violated a state law by stacking the board with fellow Republicans.

Pagliuca, who is not enrolled in a political party, replaces Romney's former consumer affairs secretary, Beth Lindstrom, who was appointed July 1, as the governor prepared to gain control over the five-member board that oversees the Big Dig highway project.

The term of Jordan Levy, a Democrat who had resisted Romney's proposed board changes, expired June 30, allowing the governor to gain a majority on the panel.

"Judy is an experienced professional with a strong financial management background and a degree in engineering. I appreciate her willingness to serve as we continue the process of bringing new leadership to the Turnpike Authority," Romney said.

Romney has long been a critic of Amorello, and has repeatedly called on him to resign, citing secretiveness and mismanagement. The hearing on Amorello's removal is scheduled for Thursday in Romney's office.

Romney has taken other moves in the two weeks since the tunnel collapse to strip power from Amorello. With emergency legislation requested by him and enacted by the Legislature, Romney took control over future tunnel inspections, as well as the decision about when to reopen the tunnels. That power was previously held by Amorello.

Romney loyalists on the Turnpike board also filed a lawsuit against Amorello claiming he has "improperly and illegally rendered the current Board powerless and has sought to transform the board into a single-person board in his image." Amorello sought to delay a Wednesday hearing in the Supreme Judicial Court on the issue, but was denied.

The governor's decision to replace Lindstrom came after Romney learned Friday that he had violated a law prohibiting four members of the same party from serving on the bipartisan Turnpike Authority board.

Romney had appointed Lindstrom and Thomas Trimarco, a former Republican, earlier this summer when there were already two Republicans on the board -- Amorello and Mary Connaughton.

Trimarco tried to satisfy the law by switching his party status from "Republican" to "unenrolled," but the statute also requires that appointees hold their party affiliation for at least two years continuously before taking their seat.

The measure is designed to prevent party switching to gain appointments.

"We were in a hurry-up offense because the Legislature and Jordan Levy were working to deny Gov. Romney his third appointment to the board," Fehrnstrom said. "And so the effect of all this is the last appointment the governor made was not in keeping with the requirement that no more than three of the same party should serve."

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Associated Press Writer Denise Lavoie contributed to this report.